Antoine de Lhoyer
Encyclopedia
Antoine de Lhoyer was a French virtuoso guitarist and an eminent early romantic
composer of mainly chamber music
featuring the classical guitar
. He was an approximate musical contemporary of Beethoven. L'Hoyer also had a notable military career, he was an elite member of Gardes du Corps du Roi
, a Knight of the Order of St John and a Knight of the Order of St Louis. His music fell into obscurity even before his impoverished death at the age of 83 in Paris.
Musicological research has revived interest in his music resulting in some modern recordings and additions to the repertoire for the classical guitar especially enriching the number and quality of guitar duets.
of Clermont-Ferrand
Antoine de Lhoyer was a member of a wealthy bourgeois
family. From an early age he was well educated in music learning to play at first the harpsichord
then the five string guitar. An early teacher may have been Pierre Jean Porro
a music teacher at the Royal Military School of Effiat, near Clermont. De Lhoyer moved to Paris in 1774. To further his musical education, he visited major European capitals and by the age of 21 already enjoyed a reputation as a virtuoso guitarist.
The rest of Lhoyer's life was to be buffeted by the momentous events of the French Revolution
.
A devout royalist, in 1789 he became a soldier in the Gardes du Corps du Roi the bodyguard to Louis XVI. He fled from France after the massacre of guards by the crowd that invaded Versailles on October 6, 1789. By 1792, in Koblenz
he had enlisted with the armée des Princes which joined with an allied army of Prussian and Austrian soldiers led by the Duke of Brunswick
in an unsuccessful invasion of France in 1792. The years 1794-97 saw him participating in the campaigns with the Austrian army, and in 1799-1800 he served with counter revolutionary forces in the Army of Condé
. He was wounded in battle and lost the use of his right hand for three years. He took refuge in Hamburg between 1800 and 1804 where his first known musical works were published (Opuses 12 to 18).
He next travelled to St Petersburg where he was well received by the royal court there, obtaining employment as a guitar teacher to the Tsarina and becoming a favorite of the Empress Elizabeth. He spent a productive ten years in Russia, arranging Russian folk songs for the guitar and publishing solo and ensemble guitar works as well as several collections of Romances for voice and guitar (Opuses 18b to 26).
He returned to France after the fall of Napoleon to rejoin the forces of the King. Eventually, in 1814, he became a sergeant in the elite Garde de la Manche du Roi after the Bourbon Restoration
. At about this time he published his first works for six-string guitar the "Duos concertants for two guitars" op.31 and 32.
Louis XVIII appointed him "Major de la place" on the Île d’Oléron
in 1816. Between 1820 and 1825, he established his home in nearby Niort
where he married and had four children. From this time he published his opuses 38 to 45. He became Lieutenant du Roi (a vice regal appointment) at Saint Florent
in Corsica from 1826.
Possibly due to the decline in popularity of the guitar in salon music
, replaced by the increasingly popular pianoforte, no more music of L'Hoyer appears to have been published from this time (1826) onward. In 1830 he became "Commandant du la place" in Bonifacio, Corsica. His life took another change in fortune with the abdication of the French King in the July Revolution
of 1830 and the subsequent reorganisation of civil and military administration, losing his position as commandant.
In 1831 he established his home in Aix en Provence staying there until 1836. Next he took his family to Algeria
settling near the capital Algiers
and then finally in 1852 to Paris
where he died in poverty on 15 March during the reign of Napoleon III.
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
composer of mainly chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
featuring the classical guitar
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
. He was an approximate musical contemporary of Beethoven. L'Hoyer also had a notable military career, he was an elite member of Gardes du Corps du Roi
Garde du Corps (France)
The Garde du Corps was the senior formation of the King of France's Household Cavalry within the Maison du Roi.-History:The oldest company in the Garde du Corps was the Company of Scottish Archers, later just the 1st Scottish Company or Garde Écossaise, formed in 1419 from Scots that fought for...
, a Knight of the Order of St John and a Knight of the Order of St Louis. His music fell into obscurity even before his impoverished death at the age of 83 in Paris.
Musicological research has revived interest in his music resulting in some modern recordings and additions to the repertoire for the classical guitar especially enriching the number and quality of guitar duets.
Biography
Born 6 September 1768 in the French communeCommunes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
Antoine de Lhoyer was a member of a wealthy bourgeois
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
family. From an early age he was well educated in music learning to play at first the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
then the five string guitar. An early teacher may have been Pierre Jean Porro
Pierre Jean Porro
Pierre-Jean Porro was an influential French guitarist, composer and music publisher. His influence helped popularize the guitar as a salon instrument. Also a guitar teacher, he published a guitar method and was an editor and publisher of several musical journals...
a music teacher at the Royal Military School of Effiat, near Clermont. De Lhoyer moved to Paris in 1774. To further his musical education, he visited major European capitals and by the age of 21 already enjoyed a reputation as a virtuoso guitarist.
The rest of Lhoyer's life was to be buffeted by the momentous events of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
A devout royalist, in 1789 he became a soldier in the Gardes du Corps du Roi the bodyguard to Louis XVI. He fled from France after the massacre of guards by the crowd that invaded Versailles on October 6, 1789. By 1792, in Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
he had enlisted with the armée des Princes which joined with an allied army of Prussian and Austrian soldiers led by the Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a sovereign prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and a professional soldier who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia...
in an unsuccessful invasion of France in 1792. The years 1794-97 saw him participating in the campaigns with the Austrian army, and in 1799-1800 he served with counter revolutionary forces in the Army of Condé
Army of Condé
The Army of Condé was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had been formed by the Comte d'Artois and Mirabeau-Tonneau...
. He was wounded in battle and lost the use of his right hand for three years. He took refuge in Hamburg between 1800 and 1804 where his first known musical works were published (Opuses 12 to 18).
He next travelled to St Petersburg where he was well received by the royal court there, obtaining employment as a guitar teacher to the Tsarina and becoming a favorite of the Empress Elizabeth. He spent a productive ten years in Russia, arranging Russian folk songs for the guitar and publishing solo and ensemble guitar works as well as several collections of Romances for voice and guitar (Opuses 18b to 26).
He returned to France after the fall of Napoleon to rejoin the forces of the King. Eventually, in 1814, he became a sergeant in the elite Garde de la Manche du Roi after the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
. At about this time he published his first works for six-string guitar the "Duos concertants for two guitars" op.31 and 32.
Louis XVIII appointed him "Major de la place" on the Île d’Oléron
Oléron
Île d'Oléron is an island off the Atlantic coast of France , on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....
in 1816. Between 1820 and 1825, he established his home in nearby Niort
Niort
Niort is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.The Latin name of the city was Novioritum.The population of Niort is 60,486 and more than 137,000 people live in the urban area....
where he married and had four children. From this time he published his opuses 38 to 45. He became Lieutenant du Roi (a vice regal appointment) at Saint Florent
Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse
Saint-Florent is a commune in Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is a fishing port located on the gulf of the same name....
in Corsica from 1826.
Possibly due to the decline in popularity of the guitar in salon music
Salon music
Salon music was a popular music genre in Europe during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano in the romantic style, and often performed by the composer at events known as "Salons". Salon compositions are usually fairly short and often focus on virtuoso pianistic display or...
, replaced by the increasingly popular pianoforte, no more music of L'Hoyer appears to have been published from this time (1826) onward. In 1830 he became "Commandant du la place" in Bonifacio, Corsica. His life took another change in fortune with the abdication of the French King in the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
of 1830 and the subsequent reorganisation of civil and military administration, losing his position as commandant.
In 1831 he established his home in Aix en Provence staying there until 1836. Next he took his family to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
settling near the capital Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
and then finally in 1852 to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he died in poverty on 15 March during the reign of Napoleon III.
Known Compositions
Lhoyer left about 40 or 50 works for both the five string and six string guitar mainly in the form of duets, trios and other chamber music ensembles featuring the classical guitar. Lhoyer left only a few solo works for the guitar. The places of publication of his works correspond to his travels. The opuses 1 to 11 have not yet been identified. A partial list appears below.Hamburg (op. 12-18)
- Grande sonate pour la guitarre (op. 12)
- Romances for soprano and guitar (op. 15)
- Guitar Concerto (op. 16 recently republished in Madrid 1964)
- Trois sonates pour la guitare avec un violon obligé (op. 17)
St Petersburg (op. 19-27)
- Air Russe varié pour la Guitare par A. Lhoyer (op.?)
- 12 Valses op.23
- Romances for soprano and guitar (op. 24)
- Six exercices pour la guitare (op. 27)
Paris (op. 28-45)
- "The Dinner of Momus", a collection of songs and poems with accompaniament by 2 guitars
- Grand Duo Concertant for guitar and violin, (op. 28)
- Trio for three guitars, (op. 29)
- Trois Duos Concertants Dédiés à Madame la Princesse De Croy Solré, (op. 31 Paris, Gaveaux 1814)
- Air varié et Dialogué for Guitar Quartet (c.1815).
- 12 Valses (Guitar Duos) op.32
- Fantaisie Concertante (op. 33 In eight movements: Allegro Moderato, Menuetto, Andante with four variations, Adagio, Menuetto, Polonaise, Romance and Rondo)
- Trois Duos Concertants Composés et Dédiés à Monsieur le Compte de Rochechouart, Op. 34(Paris, Koliker 1819)
- Six Duos concertants (op. 35)
- Six Sérénades Faciles (op. 36)
- Six Duos Nocturnes (op. 37)
- Trios for guitar, violin and viola (op. 38 and 39)
- ‘The Magic Flute’ in a transcription for violin, viola and guitar (op. 40)
- Grand Trio Opus 41 for guitar, flute and viola
- Air varié – Fantaisie– Divertissement, suivi d'un air écossais, op. 43
- Duo Concertant op.44
External links
- http://primavista.free.fr/LhoyerUK.html
- http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Antoine_de_Lhoyer/16242.htm
- Lorenzo Micheli, http://www.naxosdirect.com/title/8.570146
- http://www.editionsorphee.com/chamber/lhoyer-4.html
- http://www.georgeonslow.com/auvergne/antoine-lhoyer.html
- Josiane et Philippe Spinosi, http://www.musiques-buissonnieres.fr/page.php?titre=partition_de_lhoyer_fantaisie_guitares
- http://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/erg/composers.htm#LHoyer
Sheetmusic
- http://www.muslib.se/ebibliotek/boije/Boije_l.htm
- http://rex.kb.dk/primo_library/libweb/action/preferences.do?fn=change_lang&vid=KGL&prefLang=en_US&prefBackUrl=http:%2F%2Frex.kb.dk%2Fprimo_library%2Flibweb%2Faction%2Fsearch.do?dscnt=0%26fctN=facet_tlevel%26vl(1UI0)=contains%26vl(61142532UI2)=sub%26scp.scps=scope%3A%28KGL%29%26fctV=online_resource%26vl(1UI2)=contains%26tab=default_tab%26dstmp=1291362589888%26srt=rank%26mode=Advanced%26vl(45742256UI3)=all_items%26vl(48924786UI4)=all_items%26tb=t%26indx=1%26backFromPreferences=true%26vl(freeText0)=%26fn=search%26vid=KGL%26vl(freeText2)=%26vl(45742261UI5)=all_items%26title1=1%26vl(1UI1)=contains%26frbg=%26ct=facet%26dum=true%26Submit=Search%26vl(48924784UI1)=creator%26vl(freeText1)=Lhoyer%26vl(48924785UI0)=title%26vid=KGLRischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music] Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark